Artificial Fishing Lure

ABSTRACT

A multi-segmented, soft-bodied, artificial fishing lure or swim bait with a natural profile includes plastic control planes in each body segment to generate a lure that is stable in the water, and demonstrates realistic swimming motions in a range of retrieve speeds and even when allowed to sink. At least one clear, stiff plastic control plane is inserted in each body segment to generate a lifelike swimming motion when the lure is retrieved. Each control plane may be moved within a range of positions to provide realistic motions for specific fishing techniques. The control planes inserted into and sometimes through the lure body are invisible in the water and are adjustable to accommodate a range of water conditions, densities and temperatures. The placement of control planes create the ability to limit unnatural/undesirable movements and expand or accentuate natural and desirable movements in each segment of the body of the lure.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/166,742 filed Jan. 28, 2014 now U.S. Pat. No. 9,179,656.

FIELD OF THE INVENTIONS

The inventions described below relate to the field of fishing lures andmore specifically to realistic fishing lures that accurately simulatelive, healthy, swimming baitfish.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONS

Artificial fishing lures such as swim baits attempt to simulate baitfishand to stimulate a strike response from gamefish. The swim bait hasbecome extremely popular with game fisherman. These devices attempt toemulate the look and motion of smaller swimming fish and othercreatures, attracting larger game fish to the hook and capture. Swimbaits often closely resemble a shad, minnow, bluegill or any fish insize, shape, and color. The body is segmented in sections to allow it tomove back and forth through the water.

Conventional sectioned, straight tailed and soft plastic swim baits donot perform natural swimming motions on their own when compared to thelive bait fish the lures are simulating. The problems with conventionalswim baits are: 1) an unnatural lateral, side to side head wobbleproducing a wide lateral arc in the front of the lure, this motion ismore of a snake like action than of a natural baitfish; 2) anexaggerated head wobble produces the same snakelike, exaggerated,lateral, side to side, wide lateral arc in the tail, similar to what isseen in the head; 3) the swim bait rolls with a longer/wider unnaturalrocking about the longitudinal axis, a natural baitfish swims with aslight body roll; 4) the swim bait is unstable during faster retrievesor trolls spinning and rotating about both longitudinal and verticalaxis' due to the exaggerated head arc, tail arc and body roll; 5) theswim bait does not swim down or dive downward naturally or glide with anupright orientation. In most cases, when the retrieve or troll isstopped, a conventional swim bait's tail does not beat or move as thebait sinks down toward the bottom, instead, the swim bait just tumblesand sinks.

Many conventional swim bait lures modify the natural, organic look ofbaitfish to provide twist, curl, paddle, or vortex tails and othervisible non-lifelike extensions to generate motion in the lure or tosimulate organic fish fins. Often the generated motion of theseextensions generate erratic and unnatural motions and they do not lookreal. In addition, there is some variation in the weight and balance ofconventional lures leading to inconsistent performance between two swimbaits from the same package.

The fins and shape of living fish enable them to move through the waterwith very little gross motion as is generated when retrieving manyconventional lures. In addition, living baitfish are generally stable inthe water and maintain an upright orientation when moving slowly throughthe water which is very different from many conventional lures that leanand bob in unnatural orientations when they are not being activelyretrieved or allowed to sink or rest on the bottom.

SUMMARY

The devices and methods described below provide for a multi-segmented,soft-bodied artificial fishing lure or swim bait with a natural profilethat is stable in the water, and demonstrates realistic swimming motionsin a range of retrieve speeds and even when allowed to sink. At leastone clear, stiff control plane is inserted in each body segment togenerate a very lifelike swimming motion when the lure is retrieved orworked. Each control plane may be moved within a range of positions toprovide more precise motions for specific fishing techniques. Thecontrol planes inserted into and sometimes through the lure body areinvisible in the water and are adjustable to accommodate a range ofwater conditions, densities and temperatures. The stiffness of thecontrol planes also provides a very lifelike mouthfeel to a gamefishthat strikes the lure which simulates the stiff spines of a baitfishwhich extend out when threatened or consumed. The strategic placement ofcontrol planes create the ability to limit unnatural/undesirablemovements and expand or accentuate natural and desirable movements tospecific segments of the body of the swim bait. Adjusting andcontrolling the forces applied to each body segment and therefore themotion of each body segment enables fine tuning adjustment of the grossmotion of the swim bait lure.

The control plane configuration disclosed here provides similarperformance in a variety of fish body geometries from the torpedo shapeof shad and minnows to the upright planar shape of crappie and bluegill.Control planes may be formed of any suitable clear, generally stiffmaterial such as plastics, polymers and even ceramics such as glass.

The control planes in a multi-segment swim bait allow an angler to alterthe way the swim bait moves through the water expanding the range ofpotential swimming motions/actions without changing the appearance ofthe lure because the alterations are made by adjusting the lowvisibility, clear plastic control planes. The forces generated by thecontrol planes damp out unwanted motions and accentuate desired motionsto more accurately simulate the motions of a live and swimming baitfish.The ability to adjust one or more control planes on each lure enablesmultiple lures to be adjusted to perform consistently if that isdesired.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of a multi-segment soft-bodied fishing lure withcontrol planes inserted.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a multi-segment soft-bodied fishing lureillustrating the control planes and weight and hook.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the fishing lure of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the fishing lure of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the fishing lure of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a cross section view of the first segment of the fishing lureof FIG. 2 taken along A-A.

FIG. 7 is a cross section view of the second segment of the fishing lureof FIG. 2 taken along B-B.

FIG. 8 is a cross section view of the tail segment of the fishing lureof FIG. 2 taken along C-c.

FIG. 9 is a top view of a fishing lure with control planes configuredfor jerkbaiting.

FIG. 10 is a side view of the fishing lure of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a side view of a fishing lure with control planes configuredfor high speed retrieves and trolling.

FIG. 12 is a top view of the fishing lure of FIG. 11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONS

FIG. 1 illustrates lure or swim bait 10 with realistic and adjustableswimming performance generated by the interaction of the multi-segment,soft body and the one or more clear and generally stiff control planesin each body segment.

Lure or swim bait 10 of FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 has a soft,multi-segmented body 12 having first or front segment 13, second ormiddle segment 14 and a third or tail segment 15 with a realistic tail12T. One or more control planes are frictionally secured in each bodysegment such as segments 13, 14 or 15 with all the control planesgenerally coplanar with horizontal axis 23C. For example, first bodysegment 13 includes front vertical control plane 16 and front horizontalcontrol plane 17. Control planes such as control planes 16 and 17 aregenerally stiff, clear plastic and may extend from one surface of body12 or they may extend completely through the body as shown. Any suitableplastic may be selected for control planes, however they should beselected of a material that is generally invisible to fish in the water.Any suitable tool such as a narrow blade knife, razor blade or sharpenedpiece of plastic may be used to create a slot or opening to accommodatea control plane. The control planes are not sized, shaped or located tosimulate the appearance of any natural appendages of any water creature.

Second or middle body segment 14 includes a middle, dorsal control plane18 which generally extends from top or dorsal surface 12D of the bodyalthough any other suitable orientation may be used. Third or tailsegment 15 includes first and second control planes 19 and 20 andcollinear tail control plane 21 which is parallel to longitudinal axis23C, and generally coplanar with vertical axis 23A and extends back,away from tail 12T. Horizontal orientation of tail control plane 21 inwhich the control plane is coplanar with horizontal axis 23C may also beused. Radial orientations of tail control plane 21 between vertical andhorizontal may be used to generate swimming motions of a crippledbaitfish.

Properly placed and aligned control planes such as planes 16, 17, 18,19, 20 and 21 function to change the dynamic forces exerted on a swimbait by the water enabling the lure to achieve desirable, naturalswimming motions. To generate natural swimming motions at a range ofretrieve speeds as well as when sinking, a segmented, straight tailed,soft polymer or plastic swim bait needs one or more control surfaces tolimit unnatural movement in its front and middle segment/sections(s) andone or more control surfaces to enhance and control the movement in itstail segment/section(s). The generally stiff and clear control planessuch as planes 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 provide controlled force to thelure body whether the control plane ends are rounded, squared, diamond,rhombus shaped or even forked as illustrated. Rounded control planessuch as control planes 19 and 20 are preferred because there is not acorner or sharp edge to cut or nick the line during the cast or retrieveand rounded control planes shed weeds best. Positioning of hook 5 andany suitable weight such as weight 2 in front segment 13 maintains aforward center of gravity to aid in stabilizing the entire lure.

Generally, control planes 16, 17, 18 limit back and forth, lateral headwobble, limit vertical roll, twist and rocking, and provide overallstability. Tail control surfaces 19 and 20, and protruding tail plane 21controls movement to the tail segment/section and add stability. Often,additional tail movement stimulation is required due to the limiting offorces/movements by control planes 16, 17, 18 in the front and middlesections which tend to reduce desired tail movements. Tail controlsurfaces 19 and 20 are oriented at about 45 degrees from vertical andhorizontal axes 23A and 23B respectively. Control planes such as controlplanes 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 may be oriented at any suitable anglerelative to body axes 23A, 23B and 23C.

An angler may adjust or tune the performance of an individual lure orswim bait at the time of use to perfect the desired motions according tothe existing water conditions. For example, small changes can be made tothe positions of the control planes as well as the size and location ofweights and hook placement and orientation that will enable the anglerto fine-tune the lure to achieve the desired swimming motions. Thesefine adjustments can easily be made by adjusting the length of thecontrol planes by pulling them out or pushing them in further into thebody, or pushing them through farther to the opposite side of the bait.

For example, as placement of control planes 16, 17, 18 moves back towardthe tail, the side-to-side motion/action/wobble/lateral arc of the fronthead portion of the swim bait become more limited. Additionally, controlplane width 28 and length 30 of control plane 16 factor in limiting headmovement, a wider and longer control plane 16 will limit movement morethan a thin, short control plane. Extending the length of control plane16 to protrude farther from bottom 12B of lure 10 will also limit headmovement. Additionally, extending this control plane 16 to protrude fromthe bottom will limit vertical roll of body 12.

Control planes may be located in a range of positions within eachsegment of the lure body. Referring now to FIG. 3, range 34 is the rangeof positions available for control planes 16 and 17. Horizontal controlplane 17 generally limits the roll/rocking or twist along horizontalaxis 23C. A thin, generally short control plane is generally sufficientto accomplish this for most water conditions. The combined effect of thefront vertical and front horizontal control planes, planes 16 and 17, isto create stabilization at a higher threshold retrieve speeds.Additionally, the combination provides stabilization when the swim baitis diving or coasting after a retrieve or troll is stopped. All motionsdiscussed for lure 10 are based on retrieve force 6 applied throughfishing line 1 along longitudinal axis 23C.

Range 36 is the range of suitable positions for control planes in thesecond or center segment of a swim bait or lure such as lure 10. Controlplane 18 functions to limit the motions of the middle segment/section ofthe swim bait. Limiting movement in the middle section of the swim baitfactors in limiting exaggerated head and tail movements when the lure ismoving relative to the water. Control plane 18 also helps middle segment14 stay aligned with front segment 13 and tail segment 15 which aids thebaits speed and diving stabilization. Moving control plane 18 towardtail 12T has a limiting effect on the tail's motions as does increasingthe width and length of control plane 18.

Range 37 is the range of suitable positions along horizontal axis 23Cfor control planes such as control planes 19 and 20 in third or tailsegment 15 of a swim bait or lure such as lure 10. Control planes 19 and20 are used together to create overall stability and control themovement in the tail section. Control planes 19 and 20 may be used inany suitable radial orientation about longitudinal axis 23C asillustrated by radial range 35 of FIG. 8. If control planes 19 and 20are oriented in line with vertical and horizontal axes 23A and 23B, theyhinder the ability of the lure to dive with its tail beating or appearto swim down when coasting or sinking at slow speed. When control planes19 and 20 are aligned with the vertical and horizontal axes without aprotruding tail control plane, the lure is very stable when sinking withvery little movement in the tail section and provides subtle and subduedtail movements during a wide range of retrieve speeds. The addition of aprotruding tail control plane provides the magnitude and direction offorce necessary to make the lure appear to swim down when combined withthe stabilizing vertical and horizontal tail control planes.

Protruding tail control plane 21 provides overall stability to the swimbait by increasing the overall lure length 38. Protruding tail controlplane 21 also adds enough lateral resistance to allow tail 12T to moveback and forth and simulate swimming, when the front sections of thelures movements are limited by the other control planes. Tail controlplane 21 enables the natural motion of a moving tail when the retrieveis stopped and the swim bait is drifting or sinking. Adjusting the size,orientation and length of protrusion 39 provides a way for an angler toalter the tail beat frequency and arc. A longer protruding tail controlplane slows the tail beat frequency and limits the lateral, side to sidearc, more than a shorter and or narrower control plane. Orientingcontrol plane 21 coplanar with horizontal axis 23B enables a slow tailbeat at lower speed than when oriented coplanar with vertical axis 23A.In a horizontal orientation, control plane 21 enables swim bait 10 toglide horizontally with less vertical drop but, without the swim downaction or motion.

Referring now to FIGS. 9 and 10, increasing the length and width offront horizontal control plane 41 of lure 40 will induce an increasedhorizontal glide but limit the lure's ability to swim straight down ordive under it's own weight. A more forward orientation of control plane41 will also induce more of a glide and less overall stability at speedand dive. This motion may be enhanced by orienting control planes 42 and43 parallel to front horizontal control plane 41 and front verticalcontrol plane 44 respectively. A skilled and knowledgeable angler mayrecognize that the forward placement and increased size of the fronthorizontal control plane creates a desirable swim motion for an anglingtechnique called “jerk baiting” (as it is commonly referred to byprofessional anglers and described in fishing journals). This techniqueinvolves a cadence of sharp pulls and pauses of a lure, (not continuousreeling or troll) in which the angler tries to mimic the motion of awounded or struggling bait fish. When fished in this manner; fronthorizontal control plane 41 produces a wide, side to side dartingaction, with a relatively small amount of forward progress of the lure,both characteristics of a good jerkbait.

With front vertical control plane 44 and middle/dorsal control plane 45positioned on the top side of lure 40, these control planes would extendabove a hook located on the top of a swim bait, impeding the hooksability to penetrate a fishes mouth. Also, a hook that comes out the topof the swim bait can impede the placement of front vertical controlplane 44, therefore a bottom hook arrangement is preferred asillustrated in FIGS. 2 and 10.

Any suitable weight may be used, however, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and10, lures 10 and 40 use cylindrical or oblong shaped weights 2 and 3respectively, with a pass through in its center for fishing line 1. Thisconfiguration lowers the center of gravity and provide keel weightingfor added stabilization. Any suitable weight such as weight 3 ispositioned within the nose 40N and angles down toward the tail generallyextending from lure bottom 46. Any suitably sized weight or weights canbe inserted into the lure body. After the weight is inserted, fishingline 1 is inserted through the front/nose of the lure through the weightand then a single hook, such as hook 5 of FIG. 2, or a treble hook suchas hook 4 of FIG. 10 is attached to line 1. One hook of a treble hooksuch as hook 4A can be inserted into the underbelly of the lure orpermitted to dangle from lure bottom 46.

There are a multitude of potential positions that differently sized andshaped control planes can be inserted in the body of a segmented,sectioned, straight tailed, soft plastic swim bait. Any control planeinserted into the body of a swim bait or lure changes the way that thebait moves through the water. Referring now to FIGS. 11 and 12, swimbait lure 50 is configured for high speed retrieves and trolling. Athigher speeds drag and frictional forces applied on the control planescan make a lure unstable. Orienting control planes 51, 52, 53, 54 and 55at angles such as angles 60 of less than 90° relative to longitudinalaxis 56 of lure 50 improves the stability of the lure during high speedretrieves and trolling. A low angle orientation of control planes mayalso be used where larger control planes are used to dampen the effectsof the large control planes. Additionally, the orientation of the linetie location will have an effect on the lure motion and will change thesize and orientation of control planes required. For example, line tielocation 58 necessitates the use front horizontal control planes such ascontrol planes 17, 41, 54 and 55. For lures with tie locations higher onthe lure top such as locations 58A and 58B, the size of the fronthorizontal control plane can be made smaller and for a line tie locationsuch as 58C the front horizontal control plane may be omitted.

If the control planes are placed incorrectly or misaligned, they cangenerally be re-inserted into the body of a soft, plastic swim baitmultiple times until placed to achieve the desired motion or action.

Two or more clear, generally invisible, adjustable plastic controlplanes may be added to any conventional soft bodied baits such as tubebaits, worms, salamanders, crawfish and hollow bodied shad baits tocontrol the motion of the lure when sinking, drifting or during activeretrieves and may be used in an angling technique called “dropshotting.”

While the preferred embodiments of the devices and methods have beendescribed in reference to the environment in which they were developed,they are merely illustrative of the principles of the inventions. Theelements of the various embodiments may be incorporated into each of theother species to obtain the benefits of those elements in combinationwith such other species, and the various beneficial features may beemployed in embodiments alone or in combination with each other. Otherembodiments and configurations may be devised without departing from thespirit of the inventions and the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:
 1. An artificial fishing lure comprising: a soft lure bodyhaving at least a front segment and a tail segment, the soft lure bodyhaving a lifelike profile and longitudinal, vertical and horizontalaxes; a first control plane removably secured through the front segment,the first control plane formed of generally stiff and clear plastic andoriented coplanar to the longitudinal axis and the vertical axis of thelure body; a second control plane removably secured through the frontsegment of the one or more body segments, the second control planeformed of generally stiff and clear plastic and oriented coplanar to thelongitudinal axis and the horizontal axis of the lure body; a thirdcontrol plane removably secured through the tail segment, the thirdcontrol plane formed of generally stiff and clear plastic and orientedcoplanar to the longitudinal axis of the lure body and radially orientedbetween the vertical and horizontal axis of the lure body; and a fourthcontrol plane removably secured through the tail segment, the fourthcontrol plane formed of generally stiff and clear plastic and orientedcoplanar to the longitudinal axis of the lure body and generallyperpendicular to the third control plane.
 2. The artificial lure ofclaim 1 wherein the third control plane is oriented coplanar to thelongitudinal axis and the vertical axis of the lure body and the fourthcontrol plane is oriented coplanar to the longitudinal axis and thehorizontal axis of the lure body.
 3. The artificial lure of claim 1wherein the third control plane is oriented coplanar to the longitudinalaxis and at 45 degrees to the vertical axis of the lure body and thefourth control plane is oriented coplanar to the longitudinal axis andgenerally perpendicular to the third control plane.
 4. The artificiallure of claim 1 further comprising: a fifth control plane removablysecured into a body segment between the front segment and the tailsegments, the fifth control plane formed of generally stiff and clearplastic and oriented coplanar to the longitudinal axis of the lure bodyand the vertical axis of the lure body.
 5. The artificial lure of claim1 further comprising: a protruding control plane inserted into the tailsegment, the protruding control plane formed of generally stiff andclear plastic and oriented along and coplanar to the longitudinal axisof the lure body.
 6. An artificial fishing lure comprising: amulti-segment soft lure body having at least a front segment and a tailsegment, the multi-segment soft lure body having a lifelike profile andlongitudinal, vertical and horizontal axes; a first control planeremovably secured through the front segment and oriented coplanar to thelongitudinal axis and the vertical axis of the lure body; a secondcontrol plane removably secured through the front segment and orientedcoplanar to the longitudinal axis and the horizontal axis of the lurebody; a third control plane removably secured through the tail segmentand radially oriented between the vertical and horizontal axis of thelure body; and a fourth control plane removably secured through the tailsegment and oriented coplanar to the longitudinal axis of the lure bodyand generally perpendicular to the third control plane.
 7. Theartificial lure of claim 6 wherein the third control plane is orientedcoplanar to the longitudinal axis and the vertical axis of the lure bodyand the fourth control plane is oriented coplanar to the longitudinalaxis and the horizontal axis of the lure body.
 8. The artificial lure ofclaim 6 wherein the third control plane is oriented coplanar to thelongitudinal axis and at 45 degrees to the vertical axis of the lurebody and the fourth control plane is oriented coplanar to thelongitudinal axis and generally perpendicular to the third controlplane.
 9. The artificial lure of claim 6 further comprising: a bodysegment between the front segment and the tail segment; and a fifthcontrol plane removably secured into the body segment and orientedcoplanar to the longitudinal axis of the lure body and the vertical axisof the lure body.
 10. The artificial lure of claim 6 further comprising:a protruding control plane inserted into the tail segment and orientedalong and coplanar to the longitudinal axis of the lure body.